Report Seeks to Answer New Questions in Science Field

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heat program record new infrared

annamariep of AR 11:42PM November 03, 2009

i think that the government need to step it up NOW!!

chelsea of OH 5:23PM September 16, 2009

I'm a computer science professor at a respected university, and have also worked as a software executive and technical hiring expert for a major US software firm. From this dual perspective, I'd like to make a few comments on the above article.
The study in question seems to assume that obtaining a degree or certification means that a student has achieved competence in their STEM area, but at least in software, the truth is more complex. A remarkable number of computer ccience graduates (probably over half) are not really good enough at software development to contribute in a 21st century software shop. Computer science covers many things, and the ability to program well is only a side-issue in many computer science programs. Indeed, I've personally interviewed candidates with PhD's in computer science who could not program a computer at all.
So, it is not accurate to gauge the number of actually useful software engineers by the number of CS degrees or other certifications. Even worse, a borderline-effective CS graduate will often drop out of software development within a few years of graduation because the field changes so fast that the only software engineers who remain employable are those so interested in and capable at programming that they eagerly and quickly learn new software skills on their own. A student who has barely cleared the professional bar with the support of a university program is unlikely to increase his/her knowledge by self-instruction.
There is a huge range of ability and effectiveness among professional software engineers. Most studies estimate this range as a factor of 10 in productivity-difference between the best and worst engineers, but my own experience suggest more like a factor of 20. Formal degrees and certifications are poor predictors of effectiveness. This helps explain phenomena such as US firms desperately hunting for software talent, and seeking H1-B visa increases, while many US software developers remain unemployed.

Clinton Staley of CA 1:00PM August 15, 2009

From the Federal Register 1980: "Occupations Designated for Special Handling" (20 CFR 656.21a) College and University Teachers (20 CFR 656.21a) The proposed rule set forth a revised recruitment requirement for job opportunities as college and university teachers. The basis for this special handling is the distinct way in which such positions are treated in the Immigration and Nationality Act. In most occupations, U.S. workers are considered available for the job opportunity if they are able, willing, and at least minimally qualified for the job offered to the alien. 8 U.S.C.
1182(a)(14). In the cases of job opportunities as college and university teachers, U.S. workers must be at least as qualified or more qualified than the alien for whom permanent labor certification is sought.

Dr. Gene Nelson of VA 11:19PM August 01, 2009

Federally Funded Research - Decisions for a Decade, pp. 213-215, Daryl Chubin, Office of Technology Assessment, OTA-SET-490, Washington, DC (1991)
Attachment Rates
Little information is available on attachment rates of U.S. scientists and engineers. Rough estimates show that in the mid-1980s, fewer than half of those with degrees (at all levels) in engineering, and fewer than one quarter of those with degrees in the natural sciences were employed in S&E occupations." [See Page 50, Citro, C.F. and G. Kalton, Editors, Surveying the Nation's Scientists and Engineers. A Data System for the 1990s, National Academy of Sciences Press, Washington, D.C. (c) 1989]
"Postdoctoral Appointments and Disapointments," p.225 Lee Grodzins, National Research Council,
Washington, DC (1981)
[From the Code of Federal Regulations, the Eilberg Amendment "Special Handling" provisions that were successfully lobbied for by the AAU in 1976. Special handling allowed colleges and universities to hire unlimited numbers of foreign-origin professors and researchers - while not having to attest that they were destroying the career prospects of American citizens in those fields. The Eilberg Amendment was cited as legislative precedent for the Immigration Act of 1990's creation of the H-1B Visa program.]
Sec. 656.10 Schedule A.
The Administrator, United States Employment Service (Administrator), has determined that there are not sufficient United States workers who are able, willing, qualified, and available for the occupations listed below on Schedule A and that the wages and working conditions of United States workers similarly employed will not be adversely affected by the employment of aliens in Schedule A occupations. An alien seeking a labor certification for an occupation listed on Schedule A may apply for that labor certification pursuant to Sec. 656.22. ......
(b) Group II:
Aliens (except for aliens in the performing arts) of exceptional ability in the sciences or arts including college and university teachers of exceptional ability who have been practicing their science or art during the year prior to application and who intend to practice the same science or art in the United States. For purposes of this group, the term 'science or art' means any field of knowledge and/or skill with respect to which colleges and universities commonly offer specialized courses leading to a degree in the knowledge and/or skill. An alien, however, need not have
studied at a college or university in order to qualify for the Group II occupation.
45 FR 83933, Dec. 19, 1980, as amended at 52 FR 20596, June 2, 1987

Dr. Gene Nelson of VA 11:17PM August 01, 2009

In summary, U.S. STEM training and outcomes shares many aspects of a Ponzi Scheme. Early entrants benefit and later entrants receive little or no benefit for their investments.
The 1969 National Academy of Sciences Report, "The Invisible university: postdoctoral education in the United States " by Richard Bertram Curtis (available via Google Books) established that there was a S&E talent glut prior to the publication of this report. The evidence was the growing ranks of "postdocs" in S&E fields. The "postdoc" is a position that a person who has earned a Ph.D. takes in hopes of there eventually being an opening leading to a career-type position in the field.
Here are more pre-1994 references regarding the S&E talent glut.
Projecting Science and Engineering Personnel Requirements for the 1990s: How Good Are the Numbers?
Hearing before the Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives, 102nd Congress, Second Session, April 8, 1992 No. 173, 1,332 pages [Rep. Howard Wolpe, Michigan was chair of the Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight] U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 20402 (1993) ISBN 0-16-040009-0
{This investigation established that the National Science Foundation (NSF) made widely-publicized claims of a "looming shortage of scientists and engineers" that was NOT based on fact. Instead it was a political document to obtain increased NSF appropriations and to support the passage of the Immigration Act of 1990, which established the H-1B Visa program. The NSF study was never subject to peer review.)
The April 8, 1992 "Wolpe Hearings" were summarized in Science Vol 256, (10 April 1992 p. 172) and in Nature Vol. 356 (16 April 1992 p. 553) and Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN) Vol. 70 (20 April 1992 p. 14) See also "1993 Employment Outlook," 19 October 1992 C&EN, p. 26; "Young Scientists Find Solace on an Electronic Network" by Kim McDonald, Chronicle of Higher Education, 6 January 1993, pp. A19-22; C&EN, 26 April 1993, p. 6; "Cracks in the Ivory Tower" by Eliot Marshall and Joseph Palca, Science Vol. 257 pp. 1196-1201, 28 August 1992; "Postdocs: Tales of Woe from the 'Invisible University'" by John Travis, Science Vol 257 pp. 1703-1770, 18 September 1992; "Signs of a Tighter Job Market Grow," Physics Today, March 1992, p. 55; "Condensed Matter Physics in a Market Economy" Physics Today, May, 1992, p. 40; "Former Science Adviser see Dire Shifts for Research" by Wil Lepkowski, C&EN, 12 October 1992 pp. 9-10; "Young Scientists Network" by Philip Edward Kaldon, C&EN, 2 November 1992, pp. 2-3; and Electronic Engineering Times April 26, 1993, p. 1 and The Washington Post, May 7, 1993) "Scientific Ph.D. Problems" by David Goodstein, The American Scholar, Spring, 1993 pp. 215-220.

Dr. Gene Nelson of VA 11:13PM August 01, 2009